BY THE LOCH-SIDE 173 



ably a shortening of gillaroo. But, does this dis- 

 tinction between ferox and gillaroo hold ? 



Some trout were forwarded to me from a 

 small tarn or loch on the shoulder of Benmore, 

 near Inchnadamph, in Sutherlandshire ; whose 

 stomachs presented somewhat of the toughness 

 of a gizzard. These are said to be allied to the 

 gillaroo of the Irish loughs. The characteristic 

 thickening, which takes place in the middle coat 

 of the stomach, is the very natural result of being 

 shut up in lakes where the food is chiefly molluscs, 

 whose hard shells have to be crushed up. It is 

 likely to occur to whatever fish happen to be 

 in the lake, and does not mark off any distinct 

 species. If small, they are, as in the case of these 

 Sutherland specimens, common trout with thick- 

 ened stomachs. The large ghiroo, found in the 

 Scots lochs, and known as Loch Awe trout, is 

 probably the Salmo ferox modified by its food. 



The rain did not prevent me visiting the Braes 

 of Balquhidder, Rob Roy's country, and lingering 

 round the edges of Loch Voil ; nor from passing 

 down to the singularly long and thin Lubnaig, 

 more like the overflow of a stream than a loch, 

 running along one side of Strathyre. These two 

 lochs are interesting, as occupying an intermediate 



